Red for a Trickster
by Corona Australis
Summary: Shippo accidently loses his compnaions and finds himself alone in a dark forest. As he frantically tries to find his friends, he stumbles into a strange and scarily familiar demon...
1. Chapter 1

HIIIIIII! This is my first Inuyasha fanfict. I've always loved the fact that Shippo is a shape-changing fox and now I'm writing a story about him andhis 'cousin' (not really…). There's some background at the end of this chapter. ENJOY! (disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to the people it belongs to and not me!)

"SHUT UP!"

"All I'm saying is that if you told him to get lost he would-"

Kagome whirled on Inuyasha, her face furious.

"Maybe you just can't deal with the fact that Koga…."

Miroku sighed and swung his staff to keep pace with his step, listening idly to the furious argument in front of him. He nudged Sango.

"Although these little spats between Kagome and Inuyasha do amuse me during these prolonged marches, I think it would be best that we stop them before we lose both of our love birds." Sango rolled her eyes.

"Fine. If you want to, have fun. Me, I like having my head securely on my shoulders." Kirara mewed in agreement. Miroku smiled amiably and, as if he hadn't heard, strolled up to the quarreling pair. Shippo, practically unnoticed, and, as usual, ignored, stumped along at Kirara's heels. He tried not to listen as Miroku, as what normally happened when he tried to interfere in Inuyasha's arguments, received the fury of both participants. He was heartily bored with the entire thing. Jeez, you'd think that those two would nave run out of stuff to argue about by now, or at least have gotten bored with old material. He couldn't count the number of times that he had heard this one… He didn't notice as his steps grew slower in comparison with the rest of the group.

The sun beamed happily through the boughs of the trees above him and the birds chirruped serenely, uninterrupted by Inuyasha's and Kagome's bickering. Shippo looked up in relief… and only then realized how far he had fallen behind. He stopped in shock and looked around. The forest seemed to have changed timbre from the second before. He was surrounded by dark, forbidding trees, and his feet rested on damp undergrowth rather than the path that the group had been following. In fact, he couldn't see the path anymore at all, for a light silver mist had come and insidiously hidden the path and any landmarks he could have used to return to it. Shippo tried to swallow his welling panic. Just great. How was he supposed to get out of this one? Besides being completely lost, he didn't have a single spell in his repertoire that could help him. Could he send one of his messages ahead? But that only worked if he knew precisely where they were, and he obviously did not. A cold wind blew and darkness began to fall over the trees. Shippo wiped his eyes and stepped more quickly. I must be brave, he thought desperately. After all, someone would come after him sooner or later. Kagome! She had to have noticed by now. Heartened by this, his step grew more confident. Yes, he would be alrigh- he stopped. A soft growl came from the dense bushes to his left, and suddenly a huge black shape came hurtling out of the brush and slammed Shippo onto his back… he didn't even remember screaming, as darkness befell him, with the only light being a flash of dancing violet eyes, directly above him.

Shippo's breath came in short gasps and he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. Brave, he thought desperately, as the eyes loomed over him. BRAAAAAVE! But, as usual, thinking this did not help at all and he closed his eyes to the menacing fires above him and gave himself to panic.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!"

In this story, Shippo comes from only one of the tribes of demon foxes that are scattered throughout Japan, the red tribe. This tribe specializes in deception in trickery, as each separate tribe has their own specific method of magic. The most powerful tribe is the Silver tribe, who can make a complete change of form (not just a pink balloon, awesome as it is). Magic runs most deeply in them. Well, that's all for background! Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! See ya! (P.S. I'd love writing critiques, good and bad)


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again! Thank you so much for reading! (And reviewing! You guys are the best! I'm so glad you like it! Yay!) This is a longer chapter. I just kept going and going! (Isn't there a commercial like that?) Er… anyway… (brain freeze 0) Yeah! The adventures of Shippo continue! I was thinking that I might just steal him from the people who own him… Ha ha! Please enjoy! (This is the updated version, by the way! I'm so sorry for all the errors! Thanks for catching those… I must have been a zombie when I wrote this… thanks for reviewing! -)

Kagura narrowed her eyes against the chill of her winds as she swept through the sky, trying to get a fix on the Shikon Shard she was tracking. It's here _somewhere_, she thought, frustrated, around here, but… Damn! She stopped as the Saimyosho again halted in midair, buzzing quizzically. It's disappeared again! She watched in annoyance as the wasps buzzed in circles below her. The Saimyosho had their own ways of tracking Shikon Shards, ways that, she was sure, Naraku enjoyed keeping from her, but even with the wasps' power they couldn't find the thing! She growled and brushed a stray piece of ebony hair behind her ear. This cannot happening. It's been three days…! If she didn't find the shard soon, Naraku… Kagura shivered and looked back at the wasps, more anxiously this time. I have to find it. No option. Naraku had been even more irritated than usual lately and she had had to step very carefully around him to avoid his anger. Kagura hadn't been pleased when he had abruptly ordered her to take the wasps and uncover another shard. She already had a bad record with those damn shards... and Naraku had destroyed many lesser demons for failing him… Suddenly, Kagura stiffened. Voices!

She snapped her fan imperiously and the Saimyosho obediently followed her as she dropped into a nearby tree. She kept still, waiting for the owner's of the voices to come into view. She hissed when she saw an enormous cat flanked by three humans and a demon round the bend. Inuyasha! Of all the people… _he _was the reason she wasn't in Naraku's favor! Then her gaze fell on the girl, Kagome, and Kagura's eyes flickered. That girl, she mused, she could have something to do with the shard I've been trying to find… I could get that one and the others she's carrying as well! Then maybe Naraku would forgive her delay in returning to him...

"And how is it MY FAULT!" Inuyasha was saying angrily to Kagome. Kagome, not listening, was looking frantic and was wringing her hands. "It's YOUR job to watch the br--"

"It's okay, Kagome," Sango said gently, laying a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "I'm sure Shippo will return soon…"

"Yes, you know that he doesn't have anywhere else to go." Sango glared at Miroku.

"Not helping--" Miroku looked injured.

"I was just _saying_… Inuyasha, what _is_ the matter with you?" Sango looked over and saw that Inuyasha had his nose in the air and his golden eyes had narrowed to slits. It was how he looked when he caught the scent of an enemy.

"I… smell… something…"

Above them, Kagura decided that this was as good an introduction as any, so dropped out of her tree and stood smiling at Inuyasha's companions' shocked faces. Inuyasha himself spun around furiously and whipped his magnificent sword from its sheath. "So it was you, witch." he snarled.

Kagura smirked. "My, aren't we testy today..." Inuyasha jerked angrily.

"What are you here for!" he demanded. "Out with it before I tear your head off!" Kagura sighed theatrically and waved her fan gently, causing Inuyasha's silver hair to whip up around his ears.

"If you can't even figure that out you're even more of a simpleton than Naraku took you for." Kagura enjoyed the effect that this simple statement had on her adversary. Inuyasha turned beet red and looked ready to explode.

"SHUT UP!" he howled, advancing a step. "You're just--"Kagura suddenly stiffened and dived to the right as a gleaming arrow shot by, nearly grazing her cheek. She glared daggers at Kagome.

"Insolent wretch! You'll pay for that!" Kagome quickly reached back and knocked another arrow, her expression fierce.

"Monster!" She shouted, "I know you're game! Don't think it'll work!" Sango glanced at Kagome, confused.

"What is it?" she asked in an undertone.

"Shippo," Kagome replied quietly. "It can't be a coincidence that he went missing almost at the same time Kagura showed up! It's another one of Naraku's traps!" Sango snarled and unhooked her boomerang bone from its sling.

--------------------------

"Well, little red, it's not surprising that you're as cowardly as the rest of your tribe." The drawling voice sounded amused and came from somewhere above him. Shippo opened one eye. He wasn't dead! Relief flooded through him. Then…What! He thought, suddenly outraged. Cowardly! He sprang up snarling and… then he saw the shimmering silver hair and glowing violet eyes of the demon that stood before him. She had slits for pupils and was toying with a small dagger. Shippo's eyes roved lower. And… she had a tail. A foxe's tail. Shippo's terror returned immediately and he retreated away from her. Oh no, he thought shakily, not noticing that he was trying to back up through a tree. _She's one of them._


End file.
